The cameraman making the video can sarcastically be heard saying how the municipality supplies residents with “rum and coke” on tap.

Despite great efforts from www.mobserver.co.za to locate which area’s water has been affected being unfruitful, the truth is that water interruptions and subpar quality is the status quo for most areas.

After speaking to several ward councillors, it was confirmed that Aerorand, Kanonkop and Dennesig has been fortunate to experience a quality of water that meets satisfaction despite the odd pipe burst.

For other areas like Clubville and Gholfsig however, going without water for three days while councillors scramble to restore maintenance issues, is the norm.

Ward Councillor, Jos Pretorius, explained that it has become a nightmare reporting service interruptions to the municipality and that even the director of Water and Sanitation doesn’t respond to calls or messages.

“Laver-, Wes-, Eeufees- and Hospital Street all suffer frequent water interruptions. Sometimes, residents go for three days without water.”

“Potable water is a necessity and a basic human right, and while we understand that our water lines consist of aged infrastructure, the delay in connecting the new piping system has become unacceptable. On top of that there is no communication between the municipality and ward councillors who report and ask for feedback on restoration times,” Mr Pretorius acknowledged.

CEO of the Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Anna-Math Ott acknowledged that the business sector has also felt the frustration of lack in service delivery, but that water is not the only problem.

She further pointed out that even before the municipal strike, the state of affairs at the Licensing Department, town planning, electricity and water has affected the production at large corporate entities.

“There are businesses who have an agreement with the municipality to make excessive use of water for production. Be it grey water or potable water, the municipality has a responsibility to ensure that they can provide that water at adequate quality. If it can’t, then these companies will relocate and Middelburg will suffer job and income loss as well as loss of the financial contribution to our local coffers,” Ms Ott explained.

During the MCCI’s general meeting, the chamber and business sector all warned that a boycott of municipal levies wasn’t off the table now that the strike is over and that a mandate was given to the Executive Mayor, Mshlonishwa Masilela to address poor service delivery.

“Its a simple case of the local business industry being tired of paying for services that aren’t being delivered,” Ms Ott concluded.